Saying Goodbye

Well, I think I solidified my application in the "Aunt of the Year" competition this weekend. And boy did I have a good time doing it. This weekend was the most fun I've had in a long time, and I'm so sad to have to come back to the realities of work and life.

Saturday morning, my awesome brother and I went for a 4 mile run/walk, super fun. Then I played with the kids for a few minutes before excusing myself back to my parents house to shower because, "Auntie's Sweaty." I hadn't been out of the shower long when the phone rang - and my niece beckoned, "Auntie come over here now." So Twitter Guy and I obliged. And the rest of the weekend was "play time" with my niece and nephew - but play time for us as well.

We played Wii, we played Candyland, Uno Moo, Go Fish, and the Scooby Doo Game. We played on the trampoline, we played on the swings. Auntie slid down the slide and climbed up the swing set ladder. We played "keep away from Daddy" and we played in the sandbox. It was a blast.

On top of that, Auntie was the only adult in the place who dared donn a bathing suit to run through the sprinkler with the kids - but damn, I had a good time. The slip and slide even came out - and though I was accidentally dragged through the grass by my 60 year old father and "grass burned", hell I had a good time.

Saying goodbye on Sunday night to the babies was so unbelievably difficult. As they get older, they get more and more fun, and Auntie gets more and more sad to be so far away from them. But that's life, and the choices we make.

Next trip must be scheduled soon!

Home Sweet Home

Being "Minneapolis" Career Girl clearly means living in Minneapolis. But, for me, living in Minneapolis also means being far away from my family and my childhood home. And normally, this isn't an issue. But lately, it's been difficult. I was home in December for Christmas and in March for the funeral of my Great Aunt. So it's been over four months since I've ventured into my hometown and spent time with my brother, sister-in-law and beautiful niece and nephew. Gratefully, my parents were here a couple of times between then.

I've been stressed for the past month or so...and I've said a few times, "I just want to go home." And now, after my stress has calmed down and my summer has begun, I finally get my wish. Twitter Guy and I are hopping in the car tomorrow at noon and heading to my home town - where I'll relax, enjoy my time with my family, and celebrate my parents' 60th birthdays.

I'm so excited, I'm actually even looking forward to the drive there! Twitter Guy has had a long and busy week at work, and spending 7 hours in the car with him excites me, ha!

Vacation!

94 days from today - I will be here (see above). Yes, that's right, on vacation in Mexico (imagine me saying that like this MEH-HEE-KO - woot!)

Twitter Guy and I grappled for a while with our vacation choice - Iceland, Athens, Mexico, Caribbean, blah blah blah. And though I know Twitter Guy's first choice was probably Iceland, being the amazing and wonderful partner he is, he warmed up to the warmer temp vacation and we booked an October trip to Mexico. So so so so excited!

I can't believe I actually want to go on a beach vacation. For the first time in my life, I feel confident in my body, and I am ready to hang out in a bathing suit on a beach. So excited.

That being said, though, the next three months are going to be dedicated to physical training, and hopefully finally hitting my goal weight. I have about 15 lbs to go to my goal weight - and I want to do it. We found out we did get into the TC 10 Mile - so that's October 3rd and vaca is October 23rd. So I'm back focused on training and listening intently to the sounds of my own body and my hunger - I want to be in the best shape of my life to run this 10 mile and stand proudly in a bathing suit in Mexico!

Wish me luck!

Wining the Lottery

After my epic fail on my 10K, running has been going a little better. The longest I've done is 5 miles, but I walked part of that, too. It's tough with the heat in the summer.

But still, my ambition gets ahead of me - and tomorrow, Twitter Guy and I are hoping to "win the lottery" - the lottery for the TC 10 Mile, that is. I'm definitely not ready for a marathon just yet. But the Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon is one of the most beautiful in the country. They don't have a half, but they do have a 10 Mile option. But so many folks want to run it, they do a lottery every year for the spots available.

So tomorrow we'll find out if we're in the bag for 10 miles in October - and if we are, then my whole life will be training for a few months. Whew. Nervous, but really excited.

Quitting the Gym

If you're a Friends fan, you'll remember the episode pictured above - the "Quit the Gym" episode. Chandler wants to quit the gym he's been a member at for years but never goes to. Ross thinks it should be easy, but instead ends up being conned into joining the gym himself. Hilarious episode.

But often the reason Friends episodes are so funny is because they're based in reality. So naturally, I was a little nervous this summer when I knew I wanted to cancel my gym membership. I believe I have successfully canceled it, and here are the important steps.

1. Don't sign an auto-renew membership. My membership was 1-year, no auto-renew.
2. Call well in advance to tell them you're canceling - I called 60 days out so they had it in their system.
3. Pay out your contract. I paid out my contract over about 60 days in advance (paid the last two months) via one-time payment. That way the billing company can't "accidentally" keep auto-billing you.

I haven't utilized the gym in a while - but have wanted it more lately as I've been adding in my cross-training days to my running days. So I'm missing the elliptical. Bummer. Our plan is to live without the gym membership for a few months, and then get back into a gym when the cold weather hits. Does anyone in MSP have good recommendations on gyms. I'm looking for something close to NE/Downtown, something that has classes, and preferably free parking. Thoughts?

Farm Fresh Counts

As I think I've posted before, we are the owners of a CSA from the amazing Driftless Organics in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin. We started getting boxes of veggies in the beginning of June, and I'll admit, it's taken us a while to transition. Twitter Guy and I tend to eat out a lot - and when we do eat in, we tend to decide we're going to eat something specific and then buy the groceries to make it.

It's taken us about a month of getting used to cooking in the way that we have a full refrigerator now, open the fridge and say, "What can we make from what we have here?"

My favorite recipe so far was a broccoli and cauliflower salad I found by googling random ingredients we had in our fridge from our CSA. Click here for Giada DeLaurentis' Parmesan Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad. It is phenomenal.

My point of posting this, though, is also how easy it is to lose weight and stay healthy when you have a CSA. It's hard for me to pony up the money for vegetables in the grocery store. But when they're already there, I'm determined to eat them - and as much of them as possible. Today for lunch my salad (prepared with love by Twitter Guy) had farm fresh lettuce, carrots, cucumber, onion, ham, and hard boiled egg. You can't argue with that balance!

So if you're looking to get healthy, look into a CSA. It works!

Infomercials, Really?

Prior to losing the 90ish pounds I've lost since last February, I had been on every "diet" known to man. If it was on an infomercial, between my mother and I, we'd bought it. The "think yourself thin" CD's you listen to while you go to sleep, the "all you have to do is breathe correctly" VHS tapes with the crazy blonde, the "Great North American Weight Loss" plan, the "Slim in 6"....and the list goes on.

The problem with these programs isn't that they don't work - it's that they're diets, mostly. And diets don't work. But on top of all those diet programs, I've also purchased a number of workout programs from infomercials - and always hated them. Because, seriously, a 280 lb woman trying to do something and get the full motivation for it in her living room just isn't what worked for me. I needed accountability and a trainer and a gym. But now that I have self-motivation, I thought maybe these things might work again.

So fast forward to now. I've learned to enjoy Yoga and Pilates in "class form" outside my home. And I've also become this avid runner I never thought I'd be. My one problem with running is the backs of my legs. I always feel like there's a stiff line from my achilles to my hip - and no matter how much I stretch, it's always there.

So last night, after my run, I thought to myself, "I wonder if Pilates would help." So I dug through those fitness DVDs and found the Mari Winsor Pilates 20 minute workout (promoted by Daisy Fuentes back in 2002 when I probably bought it!) and pulled out my Yoga mat. I did a really fun, but difficult 20 minute Pilates workout. And I realized that the reason I used to hate this was because I really wasn't in good enough shape to do it. Now that I'm strong, I can do everything correctly - and I did.

And guess what? I woke up this morning with no tightness at all in my legs. So, new normal, 20 minutes of Pilates after a run and I'm home free. I think I may break out the other DVDs I've got collecting dust now and see which ones get me going!